Mickey Kaus, California voters hardly knew ye:
I congratulate Senator Boxer on her primary victory. But the results send more than one message. I'm a blogger. I spent about $40,000. I had one part-time aide, a recent college grad who was prepping for his LSATs. We had no headquarters, no pollsters, no highly paid strategists and consultants. We had a couple of laptops and an old Volvo. And we still ripped off almost* 100,000 votes from a three term incumbent because there is a large group of voters who are dissatisfied with the prevailing dogma of the Democratic party. I entered the race because I wanted to start up an argument among Democrats about the party's direction--about the need to say "no" to the unions and to insist on securing the border before we even talk about amnesty. We not only started that argument, but perhaps we helped demonstrate who, in the end, is going to win it. That's because there's no question that if we'd had more money we could have gotten a much bigger vote. Many Democratic pols know this deep down, I think. They know their days are numbered if they continue to obey the labor bosses and amnesty fantasists while denying average California voters the common sense solutions they want: working borders, working schools, affordable government, a flexible economy and higher wages. Those common sense policies don't mean abandoning the traditional Democratic ideal of equal respect for all citizens, regardless of income. They're the only way we are going to achieve that ideal. The pols are leading us down a dead end. This election has shown their weakness. It's not a good sign when their anointed choice for Senator, a well-known three-term incumbent, loses 20% of the vote in their own primary against a couple of complete unknowns--after two transcontinental trips by President Obama to support her. It's a weakness I hope other Common Sense Democrats will exploit, soon.